Can illegal drug Beneficial or harmful for adolescents.
“Everyday 4,000 12-17 year olds use drugs for the first time”(Drug-Free Communities). Is this Beneficial or harmful? This means that teens are willing to try drugs. Some say that it’s bad because teens could go from a small drug like weed to a harder drug like heroin. Some people say drugs are good because it helps them. But, when can when can we know they are using them as a “medicinal drug” or when they are just abusing them for the feeling.
Why are drugs Good/Helpful for teens.
Let’s start with the most used drug used by teens which is marijuana/weed/cannabis. This drug is legal, but in most states it’s only legal to obtain at the age of 21. Even though that’s the law, weed is very accessible through street dealers because of how easy it is to grow. Reading from multiple sources all you really need is one room that can contain at least five large pots for the seeds and have space for full spectrum LEDs and some hydroponic nutrients to keep the plant at neutral(ph) That being said, teens usually are peer pressured to smoke weed and if they like the feeling they usually keep trying until they realise that this drug keeps them calm so therefore they keep going.A piece of evidence that I have to support this comes from a interview I did with my neighbor and they said “I was peer pressured by some friend to smoke weed one day after school and haven’t stopped since”. Some teens do research on the drug and usually they find that weed can be used as a stress reliever so they end trying it and a lot of times it works. A piece of evidence that proves this claim comes from another interview I did with my neighbor and his name is Tyler Clarck and he said, “I smoked weed because of school and because of my parents. I was just so stressed and then I decided to try weed and it made me feel problem free”. Moreover this technically is the medicinal purpose for weed because weed is used as a stress reliever, anxiety relief, and pain relief. This is the start for most teens it’s a useful drug but when does become bad for a teen.
Why are these drugs bad for teens.
With the introduction to drugs a lot of older teens start getting bored and somehow there hands and harder drugs like cocaine,heroin,and meth.Mario who I interviewed said “I was bored with weed I needed something new” When that happens that’s the point of no return for a lot of people as they start get addicted. Additionally, these harder drugs really almost don’t really have a medical purpose so these addictions are just for the feeling they get once these drugs are in the system. But once this happens these teens start spending probably about 1000-2000 dollars on drugs I got this from Mario,Tyler, and C.R when I asked them how much they would spend on drugs each month and averaged it. Eventually they are going have to be living on their on and with this addiction they will spend more money on drugs then buying things to help them live on there own. And eventually they go broke and homeless and have nothing but themselves. According HUD’s 2014 Point-in-Time Report, About 80% of homeless youth (aged 12-21) use drugs or alcohol as a means to self-medicate to deal with the traumatic experiences and abuse they face.Then they go through withdraw which could potentially kill them. Also is they get caught with drugs as teens they go to juvenile hall and they miss out on their education. If they get to the point where they are using these hard drugs and they get caught they go to prison and then they’re really in a hole.
Can we prevent teens from using drugs?
My answer would be no, but we can decrease the number of teens using them because teens will always somehow get in contact with drugs. A solution that could be used to decrease the number of teens using drugs would be that they should have some 3 week program that is about drugs. Have people who have faced the battle with drugs come in and talk about it and show them what they can do to a person. This just one option that could help teens stop or prevent them from using drugs. I got this idea from a program I attend at my my school called Teens on Target they taught me this option.
Sources
https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-homeless-teens
Tyler Clarck
Mario E
C.R
Teens on target program
I really enjoyed your opening paragraph, you present both perspectives of the issue basically setting the audience up for your paper. I have to agree with you, when you say that society cannot stop youth from using drugs. We can only provide services for the community that can prevent the percentage of drug users from increasing. In the community where I grew up, Los Angeles, weed was used among teens on the daily basis. not because they had any sort of medical issues, but for the purpose to fit in and be socially accepted.
Thank You for sharing this post.
I really enjoyed your opening paragraph, you present both perspectives of the issue basically setting the audience up for your paper. I have to agree with you, when you say that society cannot stop youth from using drugs. We can only provide services for the community that can prevent the percentage of drug users from increasing. In the community where I grew up, Los Angeles, weed was used among teens on the daily basis. not because they had any sort of medical issues, but for the purpose to fit in and be socially accepted.
Thank You for sharing this post.
Hi Emmanuel!
I found the topic you wrote about to be very interesting. Although research has claimed that there are some benefits to drugs, however, the negative effects outweigh the “positives”. I feel that some people who use drugs as a coping mechanism and a way to temporarily alleviate stress can get very much addicted to it.
It is unfortunate that many teens start using drugs due to pressure from their friends. I completely agree your stance on one type of prevention program by having someone speak to a group of people letting them know their experience with drugs. Educating young students and bringing more awareness to the effects of drugs may reduce the amount of teens carelessly doing it.
Under “Why are these drugs bad for teens” I really like how you wrote about the financial impact drugs can have on one’s life. Many people may not understand how expensive drugs are until you realize that money could be spent on better things. Moreover, under the same section it would also be helpful to touch on long-term effects on one’s health from using drugs.
Awesome job!
Bea
Dear Bea,
I am very grateful with your comment that you left on my post. The suggestion of that I should write about the long term effects of drugs I will probably include that in the future. THANKS for the comment.
-Emmanuel